Safety strip



Dec. 26, 1939. V, VOSTREZ 2,185,020

SAFETY STRIP Filed March 13, 193'? Fly Z Fig. 3

IN V EN TOR. lfcio /sirez 'K ATTORNEY' Aals ' Patented Dec.l 26, 1939 i' UNITED STATES PATENT IOFI-Ica 6 Claims.

. My invention relates to safety strips for highways to serve as a center strip or as a traiilc separator in multiple lan'e highways or as a pavement edge marker or which may Ybe used for any two or all three of these purposes.

The primary object of my invention is the provision of a safety strip which will definitely warn the driver of his position under all conditions in the night as well as during the daytime.

Another of my objects is the provision of a safety strip which is so designed that it will effectively reflect the light from' either the sun or the headlights to PY much greater degree than is done by the strips at present in use. It 1s also my object to provide a safety strip which will reflect the light in different directions so that the strip will appear darker than the smooth pavement when the light strikes the pavement perpendicularly or nearly so.

Another of my objects is the provision of a safety strip having corrugations so that the light from the headlights results in dark shadows in 4 the depressions when driving the car at night or in the early evening or early morning so that the strip appears vvery dark in comparison to the rest of the pavement to therefore make it stand out sharply when the driving light is the poorest or when driving at night.

Another object which I have in view is the provision of a safety strip which is so designed 'that it will set up an annoying resonance in the car to warn 'the driver that he is traveling on or crossing the safety strip.

Another of my objects is the provision of corrugated safety strip which gives the maximum effect with the maximum strength and safety.

Another and very important object of my invention is-the4 provision of a safety strip which requires no renewal and which may be applied easilyand at very little cost.

I also have in view the provision of a safety strip which is an integral part of the paving so that its life will be equal to that of. the paving itself.

Having in view these objects and others which will be pointed out in the following description, I will now refer to the drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a view in transverse section of al i while the lines I3 warn the driver of his too strip, the view also showing some of the reflected light eects of the safety strip.

Figure 3 shows a sine curve in substantially. the preferred size and form of my safety strip.

Briefly stated, my safety strip consists of a 5 v longitudinal series 'of uniformly spaced transverse corrugations impressed or formed in the material of the pavement. The material is most commonly concrete and in the case of concrete the safety strip is preferably formed before the 10 concrete has set. The preferred form of the l corrugation is the sine curve shown in Figure 3 which also shows the preferred depth of the depressions and the preferred height of the ridges. The height of the ridges above the road surface is substantially equal to the depth of the depressions below the road surface as shown in Figure 2 in which the body of paving is indicated by the numeral l0 and its upper surface by Il. This is also shown diagrammatically in Figure 3 in which the heavier horizontal line indicates the position of the road surface.

As shown in Figure 1, the safety strip may be in the form of a double center line l2 or strips I3 atthe lateral edges of the paving or both. These, however, are merely suggestive and they may be varied in numerous ways. The center line l2, whether single or multiple, warns the driver that he is leaving his side ofthe road close approach to the ditch.

As before stated, the safety strip may be impressed at the time of the formation of the road but before the concrete has set. It may be done vby means of a simple hand operated tool or it may be done by a machine having one or more lfcc-rrugating tools operated by the machine; In pavements already in use, a machine may be `provided for cutting the ridges and depressions in the concrete. Y The illumination at night is almost entirely from the headlights. The road surface, except at the safety strip, is smooth and substantially4 continuous and for this reason the reflected light merely gives the impression of the road surface as an unbroken whole. Even a painted 'center line is diiiicult to see under some lights. My safety strip breaks up the continuity of the road surface so that the reflected light shows at all 'times darker than the remaining road surface to thereby indicate to the driver the position of the safety strip. The headlights throw a spot of light on the pavement and such a spot sets off the safety strip by the reflected light as shown in Figure 2. Assuming that the car is Cil approaching from the left in that figure, only the far sides of the nearer ridges will be in shadow leaving the larger portion of the nearer ridges illuminated. -As the distance increases between the headlights and the ridges, the illumination of the ridges becomes less and less as indicated in the ridges from left to right in Figure 2. During the hours of sunlight the rays of light may come from any angle depending not only on the direction of travel but also on the time of day. At all times, even in early morning or the late evening when the light conditions are at their worst, the safety strip, as I have described will be clearly visible to the driver of the car.

It is a well-known fact, however, that a safety strip which depends on optical warning alone is apt to be insufficient at times. When tle driver becomes fatigued through long hours of driving and especially at night, he is apt to losesight of a center line on which his attention has been riveted for hours. lf, under the influencey of fatigue, the driver starts to cross my safety strip,

. his attention will immediately be fixed by the annoying resonance set up in the car by the corrugations and he can then immediately right his course. This is true even in-the case where the driver goes to sleep while driving, as the resonance of the car will ,instantly awaken himA and give him warning.

The tires will not be injured by traveling on or passing over the safety strip. No stone bruises or other injuries will befall the tires as all curves on the ridges and depressions are so gentle as not to affect the fabric or the rubber of the tires, this being especially true if the safety strip has substantially the form of the sine curve. Nor will it injure the automobile in any way despite the fact that it gives instant and positive warning to the occupants of the automobile.

The accumulation of road debris in the depressions is almost impossible. Soil and trash are' certain to find their way to the depressions but the suction of the tires removes such debris as fast as it accumulates, the gentle slopes of the curves'facilitating the removal. Rain will also wash out any trash lodging in the depressions. If moist trash freezes in the depressions, the curve is such that the mass will be ejected owing to expansion before freezing so that the first tire on the safety strip will complete the removal of the debris.

Having thus described my invention in such full, clear, and exact terms that its construction and operation will be readily understood by others aisaoao l skilled in the art to which it pertains. what I claim as new and desire to secureV by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A relatively narrow safety marker for paved roads, said safety marker being impressed in the paving material and integral therewith, t'he surface of said safety marker being substantially in the form of a uniform sine curve on any desired line or lines in the paving and substantially parallel with the lateral edges of the pavement.

2. A roadway having a safety marker consisting of a relatively narrow portion of the roadway material alternately raised above and depressed below the laterally adjacent roadway surface in a continuity extending lengthwise of the pavement and parallel with the edges thereof. 3. A roadway having a safety marker consisting of a relatively narrow portion of the roadway material alternately raised above and depressed below the laterally adjacent roadway surface in a continuity extending lengthwise of the pavement and parallel with the edges thereof, the height of said raised portions above the adjacent paving surface being substantially equal tothe depth of said depressed portions whereby said marker may be formed in the roadway without adding to or removing' any of the roadway material.

4. A roadway having a relatively narrow safety marker positioned lengthwise of said roadway and substantially parallel tothe lateral edges thereof, said safety marker projecting above the roadway surface and having an exposed corrugated surface in the form of a isine wave of a uniform pitch, the amplitude of said sine wave being substantial enough and the pitch thereof being such as toy so., l

up a resonant condition in an automobile 'passing thereover.

6. A roadway having relatively narrow portions thereof along each edge corrugated so as to hinder vehicles leaving the roadway, the upper portions of said corrugated edges projectingabove a the 'roadway surface.

VICTOR VOS'I'REZ. 2 

